Redeem your 
Hello Ms. Netiquette,
Let me start off saying I have a brain aneurysm and blood vessel disease in my brain. I’m sick. Since I’m homebound now Pogo is a huge outlet for me. I also have trouble at times comprehending and tend to get confused out of the blue at times.
What I’m running into is so many mean and rude people in game rooms. I tried for two weeks straight so many times to get a rated spades Badge just to get cussed out, told off or kicked out of the room.
I’ve seen this happen to other players who are just asking for help with directions and it upsets me to no end that players don’t stop to even consider that maybe this other player may have problems like myself. I just went to a lady’s defense over this and was cursed at.
People need to realize these are just games. We’re “all” here to have fun. Show some consideration and compassion for your fellow player. Just because you can’t see them on your screen doesn’t mean that the person doesn’t have any problems and warrants players to be mean. I’ve gotten used to playing alone against the computers whenever possible because of this.
Thank you for your time.
Speaking Out for Others Like Myself
| Dear Speaking Out,
Thank you so much for doing just that. I’m so sorry, although sadly not surprised, that Spades players were so rude to you. Unfortunately, Spades is a bit like the “bad part of town” on Pogo. That’s not to say that there aren’t some wonderful Spades players – just that for whatever reason, the game does seem to attract more rude players than any of our other games. Whenever someone “cusses you out” or targets you for abuse, that is a Terms of Service violation. I do encourage you to use the Abuse Report Form, accessible by clicking on their name in the Who’s Here list and choosing “Report Abuse”, when you encounter such behavior. Furthermore, I also encourage you to visit the Pogo Forums. There you will find a great number of topics, and a great number of people who are genuinely nice. Read through some of the posts, and you’re likely to find someone who is friendly, understanding and patient. And finally, I do thank you for taking the time to write your letter on behalf of those who do have difficulties. It serves as a reminder to us all that a little patience and understanding goes a long way. |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
Where is your head Nettie? Put down that tea, okay, and give the person who got death threats better advice?
Why wouldn’t you tell someone who’s getting death threats to call the Police? Or at least make a report online? I’m sure that Pogo would cooperate with the police giving them anything they needed to prosecute the death threat makers as per your Terms of Service, section #6. Just call me a bewildered Nettie reader because usually your answers are much better than this.
Sincerely,
What Were You Thinking?
| Dear What Were You Thinking?,
You make a good point. I should have said “If you feel that you are in any physical danger from these people you should call the police, and Pogo will work with them to provide them the information they need to pursue the abusers. I didn’t see anything in the letter that made me believe that the letter-writer felt she was in any real danger, and thus did not think to include that. However, now that you point it out, I do see that I should have mentioned that anyway. My tea drinking habit, however, had nothing to do with my missing that part of the answer. Thus, I will gladly have a fourth cup today. AND an extra shortbread cookie! |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I have read about the groups of people who are being harassed by stalking and making threats. I have a suggestion that might prevent stalkers from stalking and from being harassers from harassing.
Blocking someone on your friends list may very well solve the problem but not completely. Someone can always create a new Pogo name and start all over again. Since it is so easy to find a friend that is on your friends list, it should not be as easy to add someone. Once you are on someone’s friends list they can monitor you where ever you go. Why not make it a little harder adding someone to your friends list by getting permission from the person you want to add? Similar to what Facebook does. This will prevent stalkers from stalking you. Once you remove a person, they need to get your permission all over again.
I would not want to be added to someone’s friends list without my permission or knowledge. As it stands now anyone can put anyone they want into their friends list and follow them all over Pogo. As long as you are not on someone’s list they cannot locate you. Getting permission will prevent stalking because changing names would be useless. Whatcha think?
Two Way Acceptance
| Dear Two Way Acceptance,
That is a great suggestion, and it is something that we’re currently looking into. However – let me clear up any confusion on one thing. While you can’t currently prevent someone from adding you to their Friends List, you *can* prevent anyone from finding you. As I stated last week, if you remove anyone you don’t want following you from your Friends List and then go to your Blocked Players List, you can check the box next to “Show my current location to players on my Friends List only” and you will prevent people who are not on your Friends List from finding you. Thanks for your feedback on this matter! |
